Just because you have the room doesn't mean you have to spend it all at once and overpay.

ok, sure, that's not a reason to spend it all. bozak though, wouldn't cost it all. over payment sucks, but is it the worst offense ever if it makes your team better yet doesn't cost you in the long run? not my money

ok, sure, that's not a reason to spend it all. bozak though, wouldn't cost it all. over payment sucks, but is it the worst offense ever if it makes your team better yet doesn't cost you in the long run? not my money

You look at the risk of signing a guy and what he can bring to the organization. The intangibles, the merchandise sales, the allure of a player, the chemistry they might have with your current franchise head... you know, that Benn guy.

I would say Bozak would be the right move for the franchise since we can't go get a guy on a 2-3 year deal like Stajan or Vermette...

disagree about roy as a 1c
but
don't want to get anyone's panties in a wad tonight---omg--omg
not necessarily you frozen, I like your optimism at times
but geez--heaven forbid if anyone voice an opinion not of the mainstream around here
bolsheviks and menshaviks this place is at times

Look man, the sheeple comments are getting ****ing annoying. People here disagree all the time. Is there some amount of groupthink? Sure. That naturally happens with people who communicate regularly on a particular topic. Does everyone agree all the time? Definitely not. Hell, the reason I post is generally because I disagree with someone and feel compelled to tell them so. Divergent opinions are welcome. Condescending *******s are not. You'll get more out of your time here if you drop the martyr routine, back up your statements with some sort of evidence or logic, stop insulting people, and for godsakes do something about the layout of your posts.

On topic, "I'll have the big physical dude"...depending on the source Tyler Bozak is 6'-6'1" and less than 200 lbs. In other words he's roughly the same size and weight as Cody Eakin. Neither is afraid getting dirty but to call either one "physical" or "big dude" is inaccurate.

I'm interested in Bozak but not at 5.5 per year. Ryan Kesler is making $5 million this year; Tyler freaking Bozak is flat out not worth that money. And no, it's not an "either or" situation. The Roy situation was that the Stars didn't think he was worth what he was asking for, which was almost certainly ridiculously high because he had every intention of testing free agency. Bozak is his own situation with variables independent of Derek Roy. If this team signs Bozak, who is really more of a 2-3 line tweener center given his career high of 47 points, to a 5-5.5 million contract then this team is definitely not headed in the right direction.

On topic, "I'll have the big physical dude"...depending on the source Tyler Bozak is 6'-6'1" and less than 200 lbs. In other words he's roughly the same size and weight as Cody Eakin. Neither is afraid getting dirty but to call either one "physical" or "big dude" is inaccurate.

I'm interested in Bozak but not at 5.5 per year. Ryan Kesler is making $5 million this year; Tyler freaking Bozak is flat out not worth that money. And no, it's not an "either or" situation. The Roy situation was that the Stars didn't think he was worth what he was asking for, which was almost certainly ridiculously high because he had every intention of testing free agency. Bozak is his own situation with variables independent of Derek Roy. If this team signs Bozak, who is really more of a 2-3 line tweener center given his career high of 47 points, to a 5-5.5 million contract then this team is definitely not headed in the right direction.

The money part wouldn't bother me. The Stars are going to have to overpay to land him, but I would hope that the Stars could keep the term down to two or three seasons.

The good news about his production is that it has gone up year after year to the point now where he's putting up second line center numbers.

Yeah I don't want to get locked into a 5 year deal with Bozak. 5/25 holds no appeal. I'd rather try to get Weiss for a short term 1 to 2 year rehab kinda deal where he signs fairly cheap in the hopes of resurrecting his career.

I guess where you come down on this debate is what are your expectations for next season? Mine are play the kids with a rotation going on when one young guy slumps for a prolonged period which rotates through some combination of Fraser, Chiasson, Ritchie, Smith, Stransky, etc getting 20+ games each with the same occurring on the blue line. Dallas needs to find out what they've got and what they still need and again playing that many kids will probably result in another .500 season or so. I'm okay with that as long as the rebuild takes a step toward the future with some of these prospects earning themselves a job over the next season or two.

Those looking for a quick fix and a massive turnaround next season are probably going to be disappointed. I think they'll have more inexperience mistakes than poor systematic ones and at times the team will struggle to score and certainly defend but as a whole the group will take a step forward it just won't be enough to push for the playoffs, yet. One last sell off of Whitney, Robidas, and Fiddler and Dallas will be in a position to push for something more come 2014-15.

I dont get the dislike for him. He's a good solid player. He's a right handed center that wins faceoffs. He's maybe a 2nd line center. He's 27 years old. All things this team could use. For the right contract, I'd take him here.

The things I like about him: age, right shot C

The things I don't like about him(this is just from what I've heard, haven't seen him play much admittedly): Soft(although posters in this thread have called him physical so I dunno?), bad defensively, borderline top six C..and his style isn't a fit to be a third line checker type.

The things I don't like about him(this is just from what I've heard, haven't seen him play much admittedly): Soft(although posters in this thread have called him physical so I dunno?), bad defensively, borderline top six C..and his style isn't a fit to be a third line checker type.

I'd disagree with the negatives you said about Bozak. I don't watch every Leafs game, but my roommate and best friend are huge fans so I watch them fairly often. Bozak isn't a big hitter or anthing, but he doesn't shy away from a hit or bail on a play. I'd say he is good to very good defensively with his style of play and that's why people question his top 6 role. His production hasn't been unreal or anything, but he creates chances and can make great plays. He is more suited to be a 2/3 behind a guy like Benn than he is to be a #1 on a team like Toronto.

I think he would be great to have while Eakin can develop more. I forget that Eakin is only 21 the way he plays so he has potential to grow into an even greater player!

5/25 I would be okay with, obviously would rather have him for less, but on an open market I could see him getting that. By the time that contract would be up he would be 32.

3/13.5 is the absolute highest it should go. He's a #2/3 tweener, similar to Bolland, and if we're not gonna pay Roy 6M per, there's no way in hell we pay an obvious downgrade 5M per.

I said before I don't want him at 5 per but I may be inclined to recant if he were to sign for only 2-3 years. The thing is, I just assumed that he would want a term of at least 4 years based on his age and that's too long IMO.

There's a big difference between 5/25 and 3/13.5.... 3 years 15 million is doable based on the direction of this team.

I could see Nathan Horton being a target. He's young enough that he fits into the plan of relying on sub-30's players and he hasn't exactly blown the doors off the league the last few years. I think he could be a good "buy low" kind of player. I'm not a big fan of bringing in a ton of age to be mentors or any of that jazz but it is nice to have players who have been in the playoffs and had some success there. It was just the one playoffs but Horton played really well for Boston on the way to their Cup and he's a good enough player to think he wasn't just having one of those out of nowhere type of playoffs, like Fernando Pisani when Edmonton went to the SCF.

Depending on the price and term I would be very interested in Horton, who also has a Nieuwendyk connection from their Florida days, both as a player and as front office staff.

I'll go with Michael Kostka as the surprise, "Why the hell did we sign that Guy?" signing this summer.

A.K.A. the "Adam Pardy Total Failure" or the "Aaron Rome Little Bit of Good but Mostly Take Him or Leave Him".

The last two years they've tried to get cute by giving a guy a bigger role on defense. Kostka doesn't exactly fit that mold since he's played big minutes for Toronto at times this year. I think GM Joe could be attracted to his bigger size and right shot.

If Dallas fails to sign a guy like Bozak or trade for a 2nd/3rd center, a secondary target could be Boyd Gordon who is essentially a right shot version of Vernon Fiddler. I really wanted Dallas to sign him the year they got Fiddler. Boyd is 58% on the dot this year.

I'll go with Michael Kostka as the surprise, "Why the hell did we sign that Guy?" signing this summer.

A.K.A. the "Adam Pardy Total Failure" or the "Aaron Rome Little Bit of Good but Mostly Take Him or Leave Him".

The last two years they've tried to get cute by giving a guy a bigger role on defense. Kostka doesn't exactly fit that mold since he's played big minutes for Toronto at times this year. I think GM Joe could be attracted to his bigger size and right shot.

I don't know where he'll fit in, but this seems like a guy GMJN will sign.